Chapter 36 - Shadows in the HouseLaura sat at the dining room table, a cold cup of chamomile tea resting between her hands. The house was entirely silent, save for the rhythmic, soft breathing of Jimena and Emiliano sleeping in the next room.
It was 1:30 AM. Mateo was never this late.
She looked at her phone again. No messages. She had called him three times, and every call went straight to voicemail.
The paranoia from the market, the strange woman asking about her address—it was all culminating in a suffocating knot of dread in her stomach.
Suddenly, the front door rattled.
Laura froze. She reached under the table, her fingers wrapping around the handle of a heavy chef's knife she had brought out of the kitchen an hour ago.
The deadbolt clicked. The door swung open.
Mateo stepped inside. He was covered in black grease, concrete dust, and a thin layer of blood from a cut above his eyebrow.
"Mateo!" Laura gasped, dropping the knife and rushing to him. "My god, what happened?"
He quickly shut the door behind him, locking the deadbolt and sliding the heavy chain into place. He leaned against the wood, breathing heavily, his eyes wide and wild.
"Pack a bag," Mateo gasped, grabbing her shoulders. "Right now, Laura. Only what we can carry."
"What? Mateo, no. We are safe here. Arturo is dead!"
"Arturo is dead," Mateo confirmed, his voice shaking. "But his brother isn't. Hector Vargas found me. He was at the garage."
Laura felt the floor drop out from beneath her. The beautiful, ordinary life they had spent six months building shattered in an instant.
"I thought I saw someone today," Laura whispered, the terrifying realization washing over her. "At the market. And a woman asked for our address."
Mateo closed his eyes, cursing violently under his breath.
"They were tracking both of us to make sure they had leverage. He made me open a compartment in Arturo's old car. I gave him what he wanted, but he tried to kill me anyway. He has men outside the garage. They’ll be coming here next."
"We can't run again, Mateo," Laura cried softly, looking toward the children's room. "They just made friends at school. Emiliano finally stopped having nightmares."
"If we stay here, we die," Mateo said fiercely, wiping the blood from his brow. "Go wake the kids. Play the game. Tell them we are going on a midnight adventure."
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Laura nodded, wiping a tear from her cheek. She turned toward the bedroom.
Before she could take a step, the heavy glass of the living room window shattered inward with a deafening crash.
